The August/September Pincushion Challenge theme is RECYCLE. The three R's, that's what I'm all about. How could I possibly refuse this one? The rice we buy comes in these fun burlap bags, so I decided to make my pincushion using one of them...here's the bag:

and the pincushion:

See more of the pincushions in the challenge here in a few days when the new ones are added. I just LOVE these adorable little tomato pincushions placed into recycled tomato paste cans.

Here are two pincushions I recently received in a swap.

This darling flower style one is from Jessica. It's beautifully made and so soft!

And this adorable turtle pincushion is so unique. I just LOVE it!! The "shell" of the turtle is the actual pincushion, it comes off the body and has a ribbon attached to it that you can tie it around your wrist while using it. This one came from Sarah-she makes incredible things out of felt! She was so sweet to include this little felt frog for Peanut. Thank you both so much, I just love the pincushions!

On a completely different note, I returned from San Diego last night. While in California I was fortunate enough to have another get-together with Jen. We laughed and talked and just enjoyed the company of one-another, it was really great to see her again. Thank you dear friend for making the drive, I cherish the time we have together.

(My apologies to those of you with bloglines, I can't seem to save the text where I want to without making the photos HUGE!! And I keep trying and saving the post again with no luck. One of these days I may figure it out.)

It can only mean one thing. Autumn is really here. And it's time for me to start a new knitting project. I picked up this book a few months ago and was immediately drawn to this scarf pattern. It's fun, colorful and looks difficult enough to keep it interesting, but not so hard that I'll never be able to finish it.

I'm looking forward to digging into this pile of wool yarn. Let's just see if I can finish it before Spring.

Tomorrow I head to California for five days. I have hopes of seeing this friend again.

And a huge thank you to all of you who said such nice things about my bird carving in the previous post. Happy Autumn everyone!!!

Last night we had friends over for dinner and I chose a triple espresso for dessert. This bird ATC is the result of a much too caffeinated body. Everyone else here was sound asleep, but I sat jittering at the computer linking away to more new worlds. So I'm not even sure how I got here, but I found this site called Wednesday Stamper. A new theme for stamping is posted every Wednesday and you can share your work there. Last Wednesday's theme was Birds. Lately I've been feeling inspired, looking at some of my favorite bird images here and here. So how could I possibly refuse this challenge!!? But I had to do it right then, as today is the deadline to post. So this was the motivation to carve my own bird stamp. (Here's my first attempt at stamp carving.) And the bird stamp here:

Obviously, I need to work on my carving skills, but I'm pleased with the results. Even with that triple espresso!!

Well, now is a good time to mention that I am hosting a Bird Theme ATC Swap. There are already eleven people in the swap, but more are welcome!! Make six ATCs, (standard 2.5" x 3.5") using any medium, and have them mailed to me by October 16th. Include a SASE and I will swap them out and mail them to you on the 17th. Leave a comment here and I will send you the details.

Vinatage wallpaper...all this for 2 dollars. And Why am I buying wallpaper? I ask myself...I've never worked with it before and have no idea what I will do with these rolls. But, I have seen some marvelous things from those who do...like these cool cards and these beautiful wine boxes.

Vintage tablecloths. Four of them. Each one .99 cents. I just love the fabric!

Flat sheet, just thought I could use the fabric for something. 50 cents. And two old patterns. 29 cents each.

Then, there are always books!!! I can't ever leave without buying at least one book. 25 cents each.

Total was $8.04. Added to these finds, I'm up to $20.79. It's promising to be a beautiful week, so there should be a few more garage sales to cover.

recently arrived in my mailbox. I could not believe my luck when I was the sixth one to comment on Lisa's fabric give-away post. This marks the first time I have ever won a blogger give-away and I am thrilled!!!

What a wonderful selection of fabrics!! I can't decide which is my favorite. Just laying them out and mixing patterns and colors filled me with inspiration. Can't wait to get going on a project with these.

I just couldn't help myself!! I tried to resist, but in the end I joined Selena's $99 Thrift Challenge. After all, I really do love finding old things and giving them a new life. Here's what I brought home yesterday.

These old wooden blocks are just beautiful!! But I'm afraid the paper glued on the wood is so fragile and is on the verge of disintegrating. If anyone had any suggestions on the best way to preserve these I would be so grateful!! Check out more thrift finds here.

And I almost forgot to mention how much I spent...grand total $12.75. (See individual prices starting here.) Not sure I'm doing too well in this challenge, look at all the great stuff Moki got for $2.10!!

When Jen and I first "met" we decided to do a swap. We were to each send the other three things and create something with those things and send it back. See more details here. We started this project last March. It has been an interesting journey for me as I knew nothing about working with collage materials. Jen was a great mentor and even told me about her secret weapon. I began experimenting with different pastes and paints and ended up starting over several times. Jen has been very patient waiting for me to finish my project but I can happily say, it is now safely in her hands. Here are the three things she sent me. Five buttons, labels, bird paper, red sewing theme paper, the black cardstock with holes in it and the floral print material. (In the photo on top of the pile is the card she sent with the items). She sent more than three but wanted to give me the options. I used everything except the labels and three of the buttons. I also included the yellowed paper with writing on it in the background that was just part of the wrap for the black card stock. And, I had saved the envelope she used to mail me her cards from a swap-bot card exchange. The stamps she used are of her kids and I just knew I had to include them in some way as it was the stamps that started our conversation which led to this wonderful friendship.

I started with the black card stock as it seemed it was going to be the trickiest piece to work with. I finally was able to envision a tree in there for the bird to sit on and that began the start of the box I made for her.

The red button is so beautiful and I knew it needed a very special place. So I used it for the knob to open the box.

Inside a very special place for the stamps of her babes.

Then I decided to share with Jen my main interest which is in embroidery. So I turned the collaged box into a sewing box adding embroidery floss, scissors, my third attempt at a "homegrown" tomato pincushion (my first two failed miserably!), and a bird needlebook (from this book).

This was SUCH a fun project and I'm so grateful to Jen for giving me the opportunity to do this swap with her.

And I certainly don't want to forget to post Jen's work...I was waiting to write about both in one post...she sent me mine way back in June! Here is what I sent to her.

I was much more literal about the three things.

And here is Jen's beautiful work-I just love this!!

She didn't make just one!! But two!!! beautiful pieces...here is the second one:

How sweet is it that she re-created the magazine page I sent her of the cherry blossom branch that I was so inspired by. Thank you again my dear friend!

I would LOVE to try this again if anyone were interested and I promise it would take less than five months for me to complete it.

Ooops! I almost forgot to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday weekend. I'll be spending it at home with friends and family, going to The State Fair and hopefully getting started on the $99 Thrift Challenge. How about you?

We packed up the car a few days ago and just headed out of town. Nine hours driving with Peanut in the back seat sounds like a challenge, but it was quite nice and we enjoyed time just talking as we watched the midwest landscape out our windows.

Our destination was Lake of the Ozarks, where we stayed with friends. The highlight of this journey was visitng the beautiful caves near the water. Here's one of my favorite pictures.

We returned home late last night after another long stretch in the car. It was a wonderful little journey and a nice break, but it's always good to get home.

Waiting in my front door was my final package from my secret pal. Her identity is no longer a mystery and I'm thrilled to be able to "meet" this wonderful woman who has been spoiling me all month. Angi has been so great!!! I'm so sad this is over, it has been so much fun. Here is the wonderful gift she sent.

Everything she included had special meaning behind it. First of all, she sent toys for Peanut...that is so thoughtful!! He couldn't wait to get into the crayons and start coloring. And how sweet is that little armadillo? She also sent a book by her favorite short story writer and her favorite tea. And finally, the one skein project. She chose to crochet this gorgeous fat bottom bag. It is so beautifully done!! I can't wait to use it. And it is made with such lovely hand painted yarn, that is so special. Thank you so much Angi!!